Samuel Cahen (4 August 1796,

Metz, France Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est region. Located near the tripoi ...

– 8 January 1862,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

and journalist.

Early life

Cahen was brought up at

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. He pursued a course of rabbinical studies while simultaneously devoting much attention to modern languages and literatures. After completing his education Cahen was engaged as a private tutor in Germany. In 1822 he went to Paris, where he assumed the directorship of the Jewish Consistorial School, a position which he held for a number of years. In 1840, Cahen founded the ''Archives Israélites'', a French Jewish review. CAHEN SAMUEL 1834 La Bible Le Deuteronome p 139 IEHOVA

CAHEN SAMUEL 1834 La Bible Le Deuteronome p 139 IEHOVA

Major Work

Cahen's main work was the translation of the

Jewish Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

on opposite pages, and critical notes and dissertations by himself and others. The entire edition, consisting of eighteen volumes, appeared at Paris in 1851. Despite adverse criticism, denying Cahen critical perception in the choice of his material, the undertaking exerted a great influence upon a whole generation of French Jewry. In addition to this monumental work of his, Cahen was the author of the following: *''Cours de Lecture Hébraïque, Suivi de Plusieurs Prières, avec Traduction Interlinéaire, et d'un Petit Vocabulaire Hébreu-Français'', Metz, 1824 *''Précis d'instruction religieuse'', 1829 *A new French translation of the Haggadah of Passover, Paris, 1831–32 *''Almanach Hébreu'', 1831. Cahen was appointed a chevalier of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

in 1849. Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Knights of the Legion of Honour French Hebraists French journalists Writers from Metz Translators of the Bible into French 1796 births 1862 deaths French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French translators 19th-century French male writers Jewish translators of the Bible {{bible-translator-stub